The Return of the Pishtacos
In Andean popular legend, the Pishtaco is a vampire-like figure who attacks wayfarers and slices off their fat, a terrifying fate in a culture that traditionally celebrates rotundity. The Pishtacos became 21st century news when Peruvian police arrested a gang of men who allegedly murdered people for their fat, supposedly selling the substance to European perfumeries. While police displayed evidence of the gang's alleged subcutaneous devilry, international perfume makers were skeptical because the market for the material is small. Most humans who use fat for cosmetic reasons — as an anti-wrinkle treatment — use their own. By the end of November, local journalists began questioning the official account, alleging that it may have been a way to distract public attention from more-sinister crimes, including the existence of police death squads in other parts of the country. On Dec. 1, the head of the national police who announced the existence of the fat-stealing gang was put on administrative leave.